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Scorpion Sting
By Stephen Bucaro
Scorpions can be found in 31 different states in the U.S., including Hawaii.
In the United States, scorpions are most common in southern Arizona and in a swath
of land extending through central Texas and central Oklahoma. The common striped
scorpion, Centruroides vittatus, reaches from northern and northeastern
Mexico to southern Colorado, Kansas, southern Missouri, and Louisiana.
Scorpions are nocturnal and glow in the dark when exposed to ultraviolet light
such as that produced by a blacklight. So if you want to check an area before
you sleep there you can inspect it using a hand-held UV lamp. If you find a
scorpion, dead or alive, don't touch it. These Arachnids are extremely difficult
to kill. They only get a little high on insecticide, and smashing them just
tickles them a bit. Also be aware that if you vacuum them up, they'll just
crawl back out of the vacuum cleaner.
All scorpions possess venom. They use their venom to kill or paralyze their
prey so that it can be eaten; in general it is fast-acting, allowing for
effective prey capture. Most scorpions are relatively harmless to humans;
stings generally produce only local effects (such as pain, numbness or swelling).
A few scorpion species, can be dangerous to humans, and some people may be
allergic to their venom.
A primary symptom of a scorpion sting is numbing at the injection site, sometimes
lasting for several days. I personally was stung in a finger by a scorpion. The
finger became so numb that it felt like a piece of wood stuck to my hand. I could
have hit it with a sledge hammer and I wouldn't have felt a thing. To someone
allergic to the venom, the scorpion's sting may cause death.
Crushed ice in a plastic bag applied to the sting will reduce the pain, however
remove the cold compress frequently because numbness caused by the sting may mask
the feeling of your skin freezing. Aspirin may help reduce the symptoms a little.
If the victim of a scorpion sting is a small child or an elderly person, you
may need to seek medical help. Otherwise, the symptoms of should begin to recede
in about 72 hours.
Someone asked me why I don't recommend all people to seek immediate medical help,
not just children and elderly? In young virile individuals, only a small number
of stings produce severe symptoms. A hospital is not a good place to be. They're
filled with sick people and therefore are a breeding ground for bacteria. The
Center for Disease Control estimates that of the approximately 2 million
bacterial infections Americans acquire in hospitals each year, 70 percent are
resistant to antibiotics.
I believe the human body has amazing power to heal itself. Going to the hospital
and subjecting yourself to invasive procedures and powerful drugs (and all drugs
have side effects) is statistically far more likely to kill you than any scorpion
sting. However those that do experience severe symptoms from a scorpion sting
should seek medical assistance. I'm just saying that you should seek medical
assistance only as a last resort.
For more information about scorpions, visit
Wikipedia Scorpion Article.
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